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He stepped on the stage for the first time at just nine years old, in the ranks of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and now that he is 32 Daniel Sharman is not afraid to go back to wearing tights. Because in the second season of I Medici, the Anglo-Italian series aired this autumn on RaiUno, he is Lorenzo the Magnificent. A character who goes well with the English actor: "He managed to become a myth, not only because he was good at everything, but also because he was in the right place at the right time". Like him who rode the success of vampires & co. with the role of the beautiful werewolf Isaac Lahey in the MTV Teen Wolf series and that of superheroes and the like as god Ares, warrior of the Immortals.
What man was Lorenzo de 'Medici? It is difficult to separate the legend from the historical facts: it was certainly one of those individuals who managed to understand the place and the era in which they lived, and also to see the future in a certain sense, taking an interest in science, philosophy and all that for which the Renaissance became famous. This ability to look ahead, to travel through the times, has allowed his myth to grow more and more. But on the other side he was a great manipulator, a very ambitious man. Studying his history, he realizes that he was never fully satisfied, despite what he managed to achieve throughout his life was exceptional.
You who had spoken publicly in support of the candidate for US President Bernie Sanders, do you see Lorenzo in any politician today? It is difficult to make a comparison with current events because Lorenzo is almost a Shakespearean character, a cross between Hamlet and Henry IV for his way of conquering power and fighting to maintain it with a unique charm and genius. The only one that comes to mind is Barack Obama, an experienced politician, capable of staying focused and charming even in the most difficult situations.
Speaking of Shakespearean characters, you started right from the theater ... Did you already dream of the big and small screen? The stage and the camera require different training. But at the base of everything there is the strength to work day after day, trying to reinvent yourself, to go deeper, and I think this is learned only by doing theater. The nice thing is that then you can transfer the preparation in any other medium, such as the TV, which I really fell in love with. For me, cinema is a more sincere medium for its ability to distil reality: the truth of things emerges when you remove the superfluous.
Have you never been afraid of being recognized only as the character of a TV series? I am thinking, for example, of Troy Otto from Fear the walking dead. Of course, that's why I prefer never to do series for more than one season, also because if you keep a part longer you stop being sincere and it ends up doing it for your ego and not to bring something true in that character.
How was it, coming from a fantasy series, to descend into the Florence of the fifteenth century? Charming! I am an artist and I have always loved the art of the High Renaissance, in particular the works of Sandro Botticelli.
What kind of artist? I paint in oil, I have a very figurative, very Renaissance style. I remember when I was a child at school drawing Michelangelo's David, especially his hands, and the wonder of when I finally went to see him for the first time as a teenager! Having the "excuse" to return to study that era was a gift.
Which parts of Italy did you visit for your research? I spent a week in Florence, where I met university professors and researchers who told me about Lorenzo de 'Medici, especially about the meaning of his figure for the Florentines. And then Volterra, Montepulciano, Mantua ... Every European has a vague idea of what Italy is but come here, get "under the skin" of this country and discover that certain places have really remained as in the 14th or 15th century. Fortunately you have not had an industrial revolution like England where cities were redesigned or modernized to adapt to factories: everything is almost intact here.
Do you still feel European after so many years in the US? Yes, I am very attached to Europe. For me it is a pride to come from the Old Continent, with all its lineage, history, culture. After a long time, I returned to London for Christmas and it was nice to find my European roots.
Do you already have other plans for the future? A series that will take me back to Italy, to Naples. And who knows if they won't catch me for the next Gomorrah season ... (laughs).
Would you like it? Why not! I'm a big fan of the series, and in the cast of I Medici there were several actors who worked on it. I also follow Suburra. I watch them in Italian with subtitles to also appreciate the rhythm of the speech that is so important and in dubbing it would be lost.
Speaking of dubbing, she lent her voice to an audiobook, Cassandra Clare's Clockwork princess. I loved it! I'm a little antisocial, so sitting in a studio for four days just reading for me was incredibly intense, unforgettable. I didn't know the book, I recorded while reading it for the first time and therefore I was crying and laughing really, we didn't even have to redo the recordings.
It was a fantasy, a genre that has already faced several times: do you particularly like it? I don't think I have preferences, I take whatever job they give me.
Are you a great reader? I really like reading, strictly paper books, no ebooks. And I prefer essays to novels. The biography of Lorenzo the Magnificent, a tome of hundreds of pages, I carried it around Uganda ...
Adventurous trip ... I try to do it as often as possible: I take the backpack and with my brother we go to see the most disparate places, to understand how people really live in other parts of the world. I've done it all my life and I hope to continue for a long time.
Next destination? Japan perhaps, and then Central and Eastern Africa. I still have so many places to see that it is difficult to choose one.
Who is Daniel when he's not on set? A traveler, a painter, I play football to stay in shape and I support Arsenal, it's practically a religion for me. But I have to admit that I'm a little workaholic, what I love most is working.
